In recent years, there have been several developments in the field of interactive communication systems involving remote participants.
In Fascenda et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,546, a game of skill is disclosed, playable with a live event, for example a football game, which is being observed by the participants on their television receivers. In the participant's location, a game console, which includes a microprocessor and a keyboard, receives various game instructions and scoring information via an FM subcarrier channel. After the live event, in a very short time interval, all of the scoring and counter information from the console is downloaded to a central computer via telephone lines to be checked, verified and final standings of various participants are computed.
Tovar et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,526, disclose a game method for use while viewing a sporting event in which each player is provided with a signalling device which he activates when he sees what he believes to be an infraction of the rules. The first player to correctly signal the occurrence of the infraction is awarded multiple points and subsequent signalling players are awarded lesser points or penalized for not signalling. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score is the winner. A signalling device disclosed includes a set of push buttons in association with a microprocessor.
In Pearson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,736, an interactive contest system is provided which permits competition among a plurality of remote participants. The system includes a central controller, storage devices for storing a Contest Roster, from which each participant selects a team roster of athletes, a plurality of Touch-Tone.TM. telephones linked to the controller and a publication such as a newspaper distributed to all of the participants. The contest is based on each participant's score as a function of his team's athletes statistics.
A control system which interfaces a multiplicity of individual terminals through a telephone network facility to accommodate game formats is disclosed in Katz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,218, 631. Callers are prompted by voice-generated instructions to provide digital data for processing by a computer. Key contest data is held accessible in a cache memory for reporting.
In Lockton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,800, a game playable by remote participants in conjunction with a common event, such as a computer game, provides a template of the game on a floppy disk for use with the remote users' personal computers. By connection to a mass communications one way channel, such as an FM subcarrier audio channel, game parameters and characteristics are broadcast to all participants at the same time. These characteristics initialize characteristics of the game and provide updated playing parameters. A score can later be uploaded to the central station, for example by telephone lines.
Use of conventional communication networks to carry participant's data is too slow or erratic for reliable use in selecting winners of games where a race against the clock is a factor. Additionally, use of "900" numbers adds a needless expense. The requirement of purchasing viewer-based computing equipment in some prior art is a significant deterrent to many potential participants.
The problem of providing an interactive communication system which will enable a broadcast recipient to take part in various activities, such as competitive races against time for prizes, using his existing telephone equipment, while incurring little or no cost, has presented a major challenge to system designers. Such a system, which allows, for example, a television viewer, cable customer, direct satellite user, or radio broadcast listener to participate in various broadcast program events, would represent a major technical advance and satisfy a long felt need in the interactive communications industry.